Dancing with the Devil

Everybody knows that not all Muslims are terrorists right? Everybody knows that most Muslims are reasonable and peace loving people just like you and me.
My problem is this, how do you recognize a genuine peace loving and moderate Muslim?
The answer might surprise you as much as it surprised me.

I will look into Tariq Modood.
You can read about him on Wikipedia but let me tell you briefly about him.
He is professor of sociology at the university of Bristol.
Modood was awarded an MBE for services to social sciences and ethnic relations in the 2001 New Year Honours list and elected to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2004
Needless to say he is one of the most highly respected Muslims in UK today and one would assume he is by definition a moderate Muslim.
This man is not some ranting lunatic who wants to destroy the west and secretly is stashing explosives waiting for an opportunity to cause major havoc. He is probably the opposite of the stereotype of a Muslim extremist/terrorist.
That is why it's important to consider what he has to say.



Let's look closely at Tariq Modood

1. He campaigned against a proposal to hold terrorists for 42 days without being charged.

2.Modood wants Sharia Law enshrined in the U.K. legal system.

3.He complains about discrimination against minorities, he writes about discrimination against religion (Muslims in particular) and race.
Modood thinks that any discrimination against Islam is racism, or as he calls it "cultural racism"
4. Modood is against the stereotype by which Muslims are portrayed by the west. On the other hand, he is very much a peddler of the Muslim stereotype of a Muslim as a victim. Victim hood  seems to be the favorite stereotype by which Muslims like to see themselves and portray themselves.
In fact you can read any Islamic web site you like and the common theme is of victim hood suffered by Muslims.

"In terms of power, Muslim civilization collapsed under Western dominance and colonialism and it is a moot point whether it has since been revived or suitably adjusted itself to Western modernity."

4. Modood makes unspecified accusations of double standards by the west when discussing the atrocity of 9/11. It's a subtle suggestion that the west have themselves to blame for 9/11.

"The murder and terror of civilians as policy does not begin with the acts of 11 September. If we attend to the news carefully, we will be reminded that they occur regularly in a number of places in the world. When some of these have been perpetrated or supported by the West, there emerges a deep sense of double standards."

I'm not very comfortable with his ideas and I hardly consider them to be reasonable or a version of Islam of a moderate variety.  What do you think?